Clu vs the Net
by cloudlake
Summary: <html><head></head>(sequel to Clu vs. the Command Line. AU Legacy world.) Is the new grid ready for all the net can throw at them? What lengths will Clu and Kris go to keep their home safe? Rated M for swearing, adult situations, disturbing images and violence.</html>
1. 1 -Post Migration

****Backlog:****

Migration to the new system is complete. Flynn dubbed the upgraded world "Grid Ultra" after complaints about "Grid 2".

Presence on the internet has been minimal so far, due to much debate over the threats that are possible to the new grid. Tron, Yori, Kris and Clu take the conservative side - for the protection of their world and getting used to the current server. Shaddox, Zuse and Flynn take the other. Zuse eyes profits from a potential tourism venture. Flynn can only see possibilities and doesn't want a police state. And Shaddox is like an addict when it comes to the amount of information that he can access. (Though, it's secretly rumored he's seeing someone off grid too.)

Not many changes from the original grid structure have been enacted yet. But big things are in the works and are almost ready to go before the populace for a vote.

But the lead team is going though some major transitions:

Dyson took a position as Head of Security in Argon City. Ruby was promoted to head of her department and has several programs working for her now. They're both seeing other programs and opted to stay 'friends with possibilities'.

Tron and Yori formalized their bond and moved to the same system address. Work side, they've flung themselves into learning as much as possible about the new system security techniques. He's taking great care to teach her to defend herself. It's not second nature for her, but she's doing much better than Kris can with out User mojo.

With the knowledge that powerful and invasive viruses could enter the system, Tron has been training his troops with a new light missile launcher that can be carried as a baton and also with heavy tanks. He doesn't want his soldiers to come in physical contact with that kind of program. The grid's Security Defense Force (SDF) has more than doubled and many a young beta program hopes to be in it's ranks.

Shaddox has taken on a shy apprentice named Babbage. Being around the bold program has been good for the quiet student. They've been deep in system monitoring, and such secrets keep them thick as thieves. Alan set up a separate front end firewall server for them, so the grid doesn't have to be the main stage of an attack and net access can be shut off from either of two places as needed to protect the grid. Kris asked them to setup a consulate to work out problems between Users and programs, and issues with visiting between worlds.

Clu is planning major expansions as more users join the system. The first of which will be the city Talegaard, named after Kris. Then a new continent will be made along with an intercontinental transit system. Kris has been bugging him to learn user languages, and he attacks it voraciously. If she can find files on the languages, he downloads them and goes through them like they were water - French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Russian are the ones she's been able to help him find so far. She's insanely jealous of his ability to learn so fast. He's also recently started dabbling in the stock market. Kris gave him her last paycheck to play with, since she doesn't intend to return to that world. He doubled her money the first two days.

Kris is collecting volumes of work for a User information library - available free to the public. When she broke her wrist, Flynn and Alan weren't available and it took Clu several cycles to figure out how to isolate the problem and fix her complex code. The pain was too much for her to deal with for such a long time and she vowed to do something about it. So, she's also working on a task force for the medical facilities to handle User cases, and to bring in User doctors to share their knowledge and discoveries with the User world. She and Clu also developed a personal revival system for Users for when they are drained of energy. A small capacitor stores several jump starts of electricity and is stored in a wearable patch. The body will absorb what it needs in emergencies.

Clu and Kris's relationship? Well - let me, your humble record keeper, show you their files from the system logs...

…

****Timestamp: Cycle 21 on Grid Ultra****

Hovering high over Tron City, Clu guides Kris's hands to bank the light copter around the shining beacon of Tron Tower.

"See, it's not so hard to control," he encourages, then removes his hand from the controls. "Your turn."

"This would be so much easier if I could download the skill on my disk," she fusses.

"We've been through this." He's alluding to the fact that they don't know how it will affect her if she has to go back to the User World.

"You know why I'll keep pushing for it then." She always reasons that she should be the guinea pig, someone will do it and the effects should be known and she won't stand for animal testing.

He whispers, "And you know my thoughts on the matter." He wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to her. "Besides, the opportunities to teach you and show you new things are becoming rarer." When he puts his arms around her and pulls her closer to him on the seat so he can nuzzle her cheek, it's not exactly a help for her attention to flying.

"I can't concentrate on flying with you doing that, you know..."

"I can't see the controls with you hunched over them," he reasons, but she can tell that ever so slight gloat in his voice.

"How do you even read all these controls at once and see where you're going?"

"I don't."

"You're a lot of help right now," she pouts.

"User, for saying you wanted a light copter, you're complaining an awful lot." He only calls her User anymore when he wants to get her goat, and it works like a charm.

"Yeah, yeah. Oh powerful and all knowing leader of the Grid Ultra, please enlighten me, what gizmos should I be looking at?"

"When did I become omniscient?" he ignores her question and goads her in her sarcasm about his vanity. This is one of the parts of their verbal sparring that he enjoys most.

"As soon as you show me what I'm supposed to be looking at," she says mildly vexed.

"Right now, just look out the cockpit window and get used to steering. Hover here." He gives her a gentle squeeze. "That was too easy, User. I'm a little disappointed. You'd think my ego would at least feel a little more cramped in this small space after being given unlimited wisdom. Ah well, what mysteries of the grid-verse may I impart to you?" he verbally pokes as he reaches out to help guide her so they stop drifting toward the tower beside them.

"I think we scared the programs in that office…" She begins to breathe again, but brushes his hands away from the controls.

He chuckles into her ear, "An exciting moment they wouldn't have had otherwise. Head to the outlands so we can work on landings and takeoffs."

She punches it, not so much from her lack of experience flying the vehicle, but from her excitement to get out of the city and have more freedom to maneuver.

Her first landing is by the Sea of Simulation south of Tron City and it's rough enough that she needs to get out of the copter for a little bit. As they step out she takes his hand and he notices that she's shaking. He brings it up, "I wouldn't have let you be in danger."

"I know. I just need a few microcycles." She sits cross legged on the shoreline, and tosses a stone skipping it several times. Settling beside her, he selects a random stone that gives a dissatisfying plop.

"What is the purpose of tossing them into the sea, if they'll just be washed back onto shore?" He's always curious why she does things. Unlike Flynn, she takes the time to explain the mysteries of Users and the User World.

"Momentary lapse in your omniscience?" she nudges him. Clu rolls his eyes.

So she humors him. "We just skip it as many times as we can. If I'm lucky I can get nine or ten skips before the rock runs out of momentum," she explains as she gets up to hunt for a few more. "You need a nice flat one." Then she kneels behind him putting her arms over his shoulders to show him how to hold and throw it. His first throw only manages two skips. But his next gains a good eight.

Shuffling over to be in front of him, she runs her finger down his nose and he tries to nip her finger. She adds, after giving him a little peck on his nose, "See? Now you'll be better than I am at it in no time."

"I already am. I meant to get exactly eight, so you didn't feel inferior. All part of knowing everything, you see," he says with a wink. That earns him a shove backward and he pulls her with him in the fall back, causing her to squeal with laughter.

He growls at the buzz from his communicator, but doesn't bother to sit up as he taps it. Kris sticks her tongue out at the disruption.

A vid screen pops up and Shaddox's voice is annoyingly cheery, "Yo Clu. Babbage has your stock market data ready. Want me to patch it through to your location?"

Clu's raised eyebrow and Kris waving as she lays next to him on the rocky beach makes him backtrack a little, "Oh, did I interrupt anything?"

"Our break from my copter lessons. I was a little wobbly after a rough landing," Kris chimes in. "Feeling better now though."

"I'd bet you are…" Shaddox lets the statement drop before he gets himself into more trouble.

Clu clears his throat and turns the conversation, "I'll get the data at the office. Plenty of time before the opening bell in the User world."

Shaddox resumes a more business like tone, "The bad news now, Boss. We've just had to cut net access after the data came in. Another DDOS attack after a foiled code injection on Alan's server. Tron and Yori are in communication with the head of security there to see if it will work to re-route the heavy traffic to a null address and operate under a proxy for a while."

"The attacks are increasing," Clu observes.

"You got it, Boss. But why? Lora is using her mojo to try to hunt down the culprits and give them a nice little visit from User security - the Police."

"Are the visiting dignitaries and doctors in a secure area?" Clu double checks.

Babbage pops up behind Shaddox, "They are being escorted as we speak, Sir."

"Carry on. Update me when we return." Clu closes the vid screen.

Kris lays her head on his shoulder, "Think he timed that interruption?"

"Likely," Clu admits as he kisses her forehead.

…

Note from the author - I hope you're enjoying the next installment in the "Clu vs." series! Any guesses as to where we'll go with this? And have I mentioned, I love reviews?

Chapter End of Line


	2. 2 - Wishful Thinking

****Timestamp: Cycle 23****

*"…So, are you gonna stay the night?"* lyrics start in, from the tune by Zedd, as Kris's alarm goes off. Kris's interrupted dream matches the song playing from her song collection.

She dreamily reaches over in the bed half expecting Clu to be there. Finding him absent, her mood plummets,"Ugh." She throws a pillow across the wall as she remembers their relationship isn't at that point yet and she shouldn't have expected him to be there. But he would be checking in on her in a few microcycles via vid window, like he does everyday. Does she want to crawl out of bed and try to be presentable today or let him see her here? Despite wanting to reminisce on the dream, she opts to get up and get ready quickly. Who knows who might pop into the office when he calls?

"Vid call from Clu," her room's system notifies her.

Despite being dressed, she flops back onto the bed to take the call and moves the vid window to above her face so it's comfortable to talk. "Good morning, Sunshine," she greets him and her sleepiness creeps into her voice. She started calling him 'Sunshine' in reference to the color of his circuits and how he's opened up to her much more.

"Did I wake you?" he asks with concern.

"No. I got up and mostly ready for the day. Somehow the bed managed to swallow me again," she looks a little chagrined.

"You're usually up and anxious to see me. Not sleep well last night?"

"Fine actually. I just had this dream last night, that I'm not quite ready to relinquish yet," she smiles dreamily. "It was about you."

"Hopefully not another one where I was falling to my doom…" he pokes her about the last dream she shared when they were still on the old system.

"No. I was just sad to not find you here with me when I woke up," she admits with a little pouty face.

A little mischief creeps into his blue eyes and voice, "That could be arranged..."

She drags her fingers down the vid screen wistfully. "Someday, Hon. Someday… Anyhoo, I'll be in the office soon. I have a function for you to try. See you then."

…

She pops out from nowhere in front of his office door and knocks before entering. "Hey!" she calls in a singsong voice.

Acknowledging her with a smile, he pulls a chair up beside him. "So you think you perfected it?" he pulls his disk for her to add the code.

"Well, its time to see for sure." Installing the function is almost instantaneous. But it brings back memories of the last trial. It still stings to think that the function she wrote for herself didn't just work for him. It was her first code failure here on the grid. Thankfully, nothing happened instead of something going dreadfully wrong. That was the day they both realized how different their thought processes are. It took coaxing to get him to tell her how he thought of things and places. How does one explain that? We just do it.

Once his disk is reinserted, he accesses the new code and snaps his fingers. Poof! A little startled, Kris finds herself sideways in his lap, instead of in her chair. His reflexes are lightning fast, keeping her from tipping in his sloped lap. "Isn't that something," he muses.

"I would just appreciate a little warning next time you transfer me to a different location, ok?" she pinches his cheek and gets up from his lap. "I suppose I deserve that after pulling it on you during our first date. Though, I hope it helps you with the travel you'll be having to do as the grid expands."

"You just don't want me gone as long."

She kisses him before heading out, "True enough."

…

Note from the author - I love reviews and try to respond to each one.

Chapter End of Line


	3. 3 - Pandemic

****Timestamp: Cycle 26****

Clu checks the system clock. Finally a cycle with out early commitments. Almost time for Kris to wake up. Whether or not anything comes of his early jaunt, he'll enjoy surprising her. With a calculation of the coordinates and a snap of his fingers, he's there beside her in the dark of her room.

Last time he was here to verify she was safe, he didn't have the liberty to pay attention to details like:

- How she twists up in her sheets and hugs her pillow (How does she manage to get out of bed?)

- How she mumbles adorably as she talks in her sleep (Is she dreaming of him right now?)

- How lightly she breathes (so shallow comapred to when she's awake)

- How her butterscotch hair and pale skin pick up highlights from the faint light of the alarm (the blue would make her eyes practically glow)

- How she looks so peaceful, innocent and vulnerable…

Painstakingly slow, he lays down on his side on her bed and props his head up with his hand, taking great care not to disturb her. It takes all his will power to wait the few microcycles for her alarm to go off.

Finally her quarters' wake up system activates and starts playing music and slowly increasing the light. *Boy…You're so hypnotizing. Could you be the devil? Could you be an angel?…*

Starting to stretch, she almost smacks him in the nose. He catches her hand and kisses it, not taking his eyes off her face for her reaction. He finds it absolutley pricelesss how her breath catches, then she smiles at his impish grin. "Oh! … Morning, Sunshine. You stinker, you scared me!"

*Different DNA. They don't understand you. You're from a whole 'nother world, a different dimention. You opened my eyes…*

"Interesting choice of songs …" he mentions off handed, as he caresses her face, "make you think of anyone?"

"Maybe." She traces the multilayer circle on his shoulder then down through the military rank square and stripes of his uniform circuitry, watching as her fingers leave a glowing purple path.

"Do you know what that does to a program?" he whispers in a husky voice and holds her hand to his chest. "Its…"

"Intimate?" she guesses mischievously.

"Very," is all he can manage.

…

Meanwhile in the User medical center quarters, a visiting doctor feels an unexpected wobble in this lab coat chest pocket. He pulls what showed up in the User world as a flash drive from his lab coat. But now it looks more like a squirming centipede, and the surprise causes him to drop it - only for the creepy crawly to writhe on the flawless tiles, creating a repeating vibration ripple.

To his dismay, it turns the reflective tiles to a bubbling and steaming, ugly metaloid and it's spreading rapidly to everything. In sheer terror he runs full tilt for the door of his quarters. His silent scream is captured statuesque as the virus encompasses him and continues its onslaught.

…

A buzz from Clu's communicator brings a deep rumbling growl from Clu as he grumbles, "Shit..."

Running her hands through his hair Kris murmurs, "Call them back." They try to ignore the message, but a sound stream pops up anyway.

Shaddox's voice has a level of despiration they've never heard. "Teleport to the portal! Immediately! Both of you! Alan activated a side port for you. Make your way to address . Nothing direct, for your protection. Code Red hostile viral take over! I repeat Code Red!"

Clutching Kris tighter in his arms, he gives a quick flick of his fingers and they land unceremoniously in a heap on the platform. They see an unnatural roiling silver river of data goo pouring in via the main portal stream. Shaddox's voice cuts in again as the sound file reappears, "Tron and Yori are fighting to keep power up. Use the port already! Won't last long! … Dammit! Tron is offline outside! GO, GO, GO!"

Getting up, Kris grabs her disk. They move to the smaller stream as Clu- shakes the headiness out of his logic circuits and ensures their armor is rezzed. Who knows if they'll have the chance on the other side. She holds her disk aloft, while he pulls her into his arms. Away into the unknown the I/O stream carries them, as the infection swallows up all they can see of the grid.

…

Author's Note - We can't make things easy for them. Where would the story be?

Reviews are appreciated!

Chapter End of Line


	4. 4 - Flight I

"They're trying to redirect us!" Clu shouts to Kris above the roar of the fast moving data and points behind them to a couple of enormous snake-like creatures with legs. The beasts have a giant web between them and are netting up everything in their path as they swim faster than the river of information.

"Dragons! Oh God…," Kris's eyes grow wide with fright. The things she is dealing with this cycle are the scariest she's ever been through.

Rezzing his helmet, and grabbing a baton, he yells "Helmet! Keep your disk there to ensure we keep getting pulled by the current! Think you can put some of your code 'mojo' into our speed with one hand?"

She nods, knowing teleportation is out since neither of them have been off the grid for location info, and she starts weaving a velocity boost with her free hand.

"That a girl!" he encourages as he modifies the code in his baton. He's not able to create, but editing - that he can do in his sleep. Looking behind, he sees the serpents have picked up speed in their swim and left the gathering net behind. The bits and bytes around them are getting jittery, as the beasts approach, and start making a raucous above the steady roar of the stream.

"Hang on!" he shouts as he pulls the modded baton apart to rezz a mini light jet that they can both fit onto and is still small enough to fit into the stream. "Put your disk in the slot, then put your all into our speed!"

"Gotcha!" She notices the his weight on her back as they lean into the jet and takes comfort in the feeling. Tucking her disk in place, she starts coding the boost for the modded craft while he flies in a winding pattern to try to slow down their pursuers with an erratic shaped light ribbon.

"Dodge that suckers!" Clu taunts with a laugh, even though he doubts the pursuers can hear him.

"Clu, I'm giving myself an upgrade to deal with the motion sickness. Or it will be ugly real soon." He mumbles obscenities under his breath, but he's unable to stop her as they flee. She breathes deeply in the relief, "Ok. Now I can concentrate again."

"There's a small off shoot ever there. We're taking it. Hopefully they won't fit," Clu informs her.

"And we will?" she asks incredulously.

"Yeah…" the pitch in his voice rises as if to say, 'You doubt me?' and she sees the wings of their craft fold back so it's shape is now a sleek and compact wedge. They dodge a large section of data and use it for cover as they enter the alternate stream. She codes a quick patch to cover the stream entrance. "Hun, you read my mind," Clu praises as he maneuvers around the tighter traffic.

Making their way up to the portal authority, Kris asks, "Where are we? I can't read the sign."

"Google Japan"

"Japan? How'd we get all they way over here so fast?" Kris asks rather flummoxed.

"Alan must have routed us out of the U.S. away from the attack, and we took the turn here."

A young female program dressed in a navy blue uniform, a smart military style hat and white gloves comes approaches them on her light cycle with her hand up in the universal signal, "Yamette kudasai! (Stop! - polite/formal version)"

Clu complies and derezzes the plane and his helmet.

"Nihongo ga wakarimasu ka? (Do you understand Japanese?)"

"User Kris ga wakarimasen. (User Kris does not.) English, ok?"

"User? Miru desu yo! (Impossible!) Users do not enter the internet! Mind you, programs can not enter this facitlity. Only data." The police program explains to Kris and gives Clu the look that he better fess up now. He shrugs.

Kris glares at Clu for giving her away and moves her hands to create a code sphere. Strands start to spin from it, "We don't have a lot of time. We were the only two to escape our system after it was attacked. We need help. There are two destructive dragons after us. I'm sorry to have possibly led them here, but we had no choice." She forms a byte into the shape of one of the dragons and hands it to the stunned officer, "They look like this. Now, how to we get to this address?" Kris pops a vid screen up with the address Shaddox had given them.

"Gomennasai! Gomennasai! I'm sorry, User Kris! I've never heard of a User inside the net before!" the poor official practically prostrates herself before Kris.

"Clu, this is exactly why I don't tell anyone! You know I don't want others to grovel," Kris fumes. She'd finally gotten the grid used to her presence and now this!

"But this program will help us now that she knows what you are, won't you Yamada-san? So please get up," Clu offers Miss Yamada a hand but she refuses his help to save face.

She's determined and stoic in a rigid attention stance now. "Yes. We fend off large attacks every cycle from all over the User world. This will be no problem. Here," she holds out what looks like a little blue paper crane and it flies around them as she presses a red button on her cycle. "My bit, Haru, will lead you to the embassy where they can show you to the correct route. Follow him."

The little bit turns red and spiky as it voices it's dissention, "Ie (no)."

Officer Yamada's eyes narrow and Haru turns yellow slowly and meekly says, "Hai (yes)."

Kris sees a row of sword wielding giant robots filing out of the portal office building. A shimmer goes up over the portal and authority building as a shield rezzes and Yamada-san dons her own armor.

"Thank you for the help!" Kris waves to her as they rezz the jet and follow the little blue bit. "We need giant mecha…" she decides outloud.

"Hai," the little bit agrees as they speed along.

"Wouldn't have stopped the encryption virus," Clu adds.

"That's what it was? How do you know?" Kris asks.

"Tron reads the User security bulletins. We talked with other systems about the latest version of crypto locker type viruses. Once released, they can't be stopped in their initial system lockdown. The algorithms have advanced, and add multiple changing layers of encoding. We'll likely only be given a short window of time to decrypt the grid on our own or give in to their demands."

"Ransom ware," she spits the word. "But we have a chance to get everyone back," hope surfaces in her voice and she starts to mull the problem. "So how did it enter? We scan everything from the internet."

"Tron and Yori are thorough. Had to be a User," Clu deduces.

"What!?"

"We don't scan Users or what they carry. Invasion of privacy and all that jazz."

"But who would do that? We've hand picked all those who enter and know them to be proponents of the grid."

"We'll find them." The menacing note in his voice sends a shiver down Kris's spine.

…

Author's note: I figure transporting through the net is a little different than being disassembled or reconfigured via laser. So I hope you'll indulge me in this chapter. Reviews are appreciated!

Chapter End of Line


	5. 5 - Flight II

A dead run sprint to the embassy server gains them access to a secure high speed stream. When Kris and tiny Haru notice one of the monsters approaching on the security cams, her shoulders sag and Haru starts keening "Ie. Ie. Ie. Ie..." She comforts the little bit as best she can, despite his spiky distraught form she manages to calm him enough to hold him and pat the little bit soothingly.

"Do not fear for Yamada-san. Her duty is to protect her system. There is more to her than her innocent looks suggest. The attacker likely fled her defenses. We will be happy to return her bit," Ambassador Taro offers and adjusts his monacle. "Now if you will proceed. Everyone will be in less danger, if you are gone when it arrives and it has to take the long way around," he bids them adieu with a formal bow.

When they enter the stream, the large bank vault like door closes behind them with a deafening boom and they hear the locks engage. Then the stream hurdles them forward. Kris feels the adrenaline rush as they fly in the light jet at an insane velocity through the data river.

"Are we going the speed of light?" she queries through the helmet mic.

"Faster with the jet," Clu answers. "Radical, huh?"

"Heck, yeah! I just wish we didn't have to be running for our lives to be able to access it!"

"One more turn and we're on the last stretch."

"Thank goodness," she says and closes her eyes in relief. But just as the words are out, she hears the light jet's guns start firing then a low hackle raising roar. Opening her eyes, she witnesses the beast spew some sort of breath weapon. The route they need to take is blocked off by some sort of force field behind the monster.

"Code us a shield! Incoming!" Clu warns.

"How did it get ahead of us?" she asks as her hands fly around a glowing ball of code strands.

"It must have peeled off before it hit Google Japan. Knew our objective." He maneuvers the craft into a spin to dodge most of a spurt of icy daggers, but a few sink into the wing. Ice tendrils fan out causing the craft to become difficult to control and they slow. "Where's that shield?!"

"Online in 3...2...1." A cone shaped deflective shield rezzes and gives off a blue glow around them. She puts her hand to the wing that's icing over and a warm red glow extends from her touch, melting the threat and giving full control of the jet back to Clu.

He calculates, "Kris, one of us MUST get through..."

"We BOTH get through. Got it? End of Line!" The vehemence in her interruption gives him pause as she continues, "If that thing has a disk, it'll have the key to the barrier." She has beginnings of a different plan and she shares her idea with him.

"You want me to what, User?" Clu sputters, making Kris giggle. He's never been one to hesitate even when it comes to even the most insane challenges.

"Dragons have uber armor. Got a better idea? We can't teleport something of that size out of the way." Kris throws down the gauntlet as she grabs a baton from his hip and swaps out it's coding.

"You wouldn't let me finish."

"That idea wasn't better - I could tell by how you started. Listen, it's gonna take your precision and strength to pull this off, or I'd be the one going."

"You owe me."

"Name it." She then adds a code patch to his armor, "Here's a little upgrade and a few trinkets to help. I'll keep Mr. Freeze up there distracted."

"You and me. No distractions." He lets her take the light jet's controls as he computes the coordinates against the dragon's possible movements and modifies the baton even more. "And stay out of that thing's way!"

"Deal." He's gone as she finishes the phrase. "Be careful. I need you back in one piece," she whispers the prayer.

It's a good thing he left some wiggle room in the teleportation calculations because he could have ended up stuck half inside half outside the icy creature as it slithers and coils in no obvious pattern. He hears the jet's gunfire and knows she's close by. Since the head of the monster is directed to him at the point he had direct contact, he transforms his modified baton into a sword. Now for the unpleasant part - directly into the belly of the beast. He slaps a small box attached to his thigh that starts a little beep chant and teleports again.

Meanwhile, Kris is hunting for where the dragon's disk might be hidden - if it has one at all. Is it on the outside or inside? Likely inside…

Six microcycles until his armor will fail in the acid bath, according to the heads up display in his helmet. Clu musters his strength to stab upward in the confined space, but a mental force stops him.

'Interesting. A program that does not cower at the sight of me, the mighty WinterBane. Low level fool! You are mine as I absorb you - your energy, your thoughts, your abilities, your everything. All mine,' the monster's thoughts penetrate Clu's logic circuits with brutal force.

5 microcycles to breech.

Against his will, Clu feels pressure on his hands to return the blade to baton form. He separates a process thread in a partitioned section of his mind to keep count. Keeping his main process thoughts loud and rebellious to help hide the quiet little thread, he notices the energy to start to seep from his armor and hears a sizzle.

4 microcycles.

'Low level, my ass!' Clu challenges as he works to keep his hands from reforming the baton.

3.

His fingers move off the button on the handle, despite the resistance he exerts against it the unseen pressure. The sword retracts.

2.

WinterBane's voice taunts Clu's thoughts, 'Any last words to pass on to your User? He's been trying to decrypt the drive. And your little friend shooting at me - she just lost her craft, I'll take my time devouring her.'

1.

'Always have a backup.' Clu's hand drops the baton and his helmet starts cracking and he hears snaps and pops. "Now, Kris!" he shouts into the mic.

Kris snaps her fingers and tries to keep from tumbling in the stream. The light jet voxels surrounding her are being carried away. Clu appears outside standing farther down in the current from her, as the baton inside the beast explodes into a million points of light. The dragon's cubes are drawn into the data flow, with sickening little jelly like plops they hit Kris and Clu. Head and tail are all that remain and are disintegrating rapidly.

"Pompous bastard," Clu spits and catches Kris in the current. The passing data flow washes off his cracked armor.

"You or the dragon?" she quips as he pulls her up and she wraps her arms around his neck.

His head bobbles side to side as he sarcastically mimics her phrase then changes tactics as he spots the dragon's disk and puts her down to guide her over to it. "And just what did you do with my light jet, User?"

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" she winces as she puts weight on her foot. "My boot hit the tunnel wall first as I spun and crashed. I was watching the tracker for your signal. I think I sprained my ankle."

He picks her up and carries her as he wades though the stream. "I'm that distracting to you?"

"How about we just focus on opening the barrier…then you can distract me all you want." She leans and snatches the glowing ring.

Together they sift through the disk's contents and isolate the command and security code that activated the force field. As soon as the barrier falls, they let themselves be carried away in the current to the address Alan had directed them to.

…

Author's note: Nick Phoenix's Speed of Sound Album rocks for helping to write action scenes. Just sayin'. Reviews are appreciated!

Chapter End of Line


	6. 6 - the Address

Upon their arrival at the address, they're greeted with a message on a lone vid window, with a Stanford University logo at the top, in the otherwise empty dark space. A click is heard in the otherwise silent background.

Kris and Clu, as soon as the system is notified of your arrival, it will disconnect from the net so you will be safe for the time being while we have a new laser installed here. We will have it up and running at 6 PM PST. -Alan

She hands him her disk, so he can get to work on her ankle. It takes so much less time to fix it digitally than let it heal in the User world. "Did you get any injuries?" she queries and he shakes his head.

Clu pulls up the system clock as he works, 5:59:01 PM August 21.

"I can't do the math as fast as you can, how many cycles is 1 minute?" Kris asks, as she programs a couple of chairs for them to at least have a place to sit.

".85 milicycles. We've got time to work on your ankle."

Slowly moving her ankle she asks, "Does that help to isolate the code?"

He isolates the right area, even though it's incredibly complex. It's hard for him not to dwell on and memorize each line he sees. Rendered or code form, she's beautiful. "Focus," he mutters to himself. Just because he found the right section, doesn't mean he knows how the code works yet. "Yep. Why don't you tell me about the User world."

Despite seeing images of many things and places, it will be all new to him and he's more than a little anxious. Anxious about the time passing while his home is in danger, about the new things that will seem absolutely ordinary to everyone else, and how well he'll transfer over to the User world. He calculated once in a darker time, that it was possible, but he still will be the test subject for this experiment.

She tries to explain the warm tropical area that they'll be entering, but has to resort to trying to draw pictures of things he'll see. He knows skyscrapers and urban sprawl and heat and cold, but lush vegetation such as palm trees, and things like beach sand and the hot sun are not easy to communicate. And the fact that vehicles don't store easily in a pocket sized baton, well that just seems absurd.

Nearing 6pm, they notice activity on the system and she mentions, "I suppose we should work on some clothing for a nice hot California day." She draws a life sized 3d rendering of a light blue sun dress with little white and yellow flowers that ties at the back of the neck, a wide brimmed sun hat, sandals and cat eye sunglasses. When she steps into the outfit hologram, it rezzes to her form.

For him she creates a vibrant yellow silk button up shirt, light gray cargo shorts, aviator glasses, and birkenstocks. She won't let him just step into the hologram though.

"You need to know how user clothing works. It doesn't just rezz onto you. Here, let me help you…" she offers as she pulls the shirt up over his arm and helps him put his other arm in. Then she shows him how to button it. Sticking out his tongue in concentration, he buttons every single button. When they finally get him fully dressed, he turns around for her approval. She helps straighten his collar, unbuttons the top button of the shirt, and tucks his sunglasses in his front shirt pocket with a playful pat.

"Only you can pull off wearing that yellow orange. Too bad we're both white as ghosts! Wish we could manage a tan. And I wonder if your circuitry will transfer…"

"Why is everything in the User world so much less efficient?" he ponders out loud. "It's amazing Users get anything done."

"Because things don't rezz and derezz. They have to be made, stored, and dealt with. Sometimes I miss the User world, but there are many things I love more about the grid," she kisses his cheek after guessing he might also be a little anxious about her being homesick and not wanting to return to the grid.

"Not just me?" he gives a little pouty face to cover the seriousness of his question. The inhabitants of the grid have really come to depend on them as a team. How would they take it if she didn't return?

She plays with his lip to make him laugh. "Not JUST you. But you're the reason I came to the grid and made it my home."

…

When the portal appears, they step onto the platform and into the beam and she raises her disk and lets it rise above them. He wraps an arm around her, kissing her and holding down her hat in the gust of the portal.

"Here we go…" she whispers.

…

Author's note: Reviews are appreciated!

Chapter End of Line


	7. 7 - Welcome to the real world, or not

For Kris, being reformed in the User world is shocking. So many of the things she'd forgotten about are there and overwhelming her senses. She has to lean heavily on Clu, "Help me get to a chair…"

For Clu, it's invigorating and practically a holy moment as the blinding light slowly comes into focus. For the first time, he is actually setting foot in the world of the creators. His newly formed skin tingles in the cool forced air. His nose takes in the new but distinct smell of electronic equipment. The intense brightness of everything makes him squint. The whir of computer fans and fingers tapping keys catches his attention. Thankfully his processors can keep up. He helps her to a chair and puts on his sunglasses to protect his eyes.

"A little bright here compared to the grid, isn't it?" Alan greets them with understanding as he gets up from the desk. Shaking Clu's hand and hugging Kris he continues. "Glad to see you two made it safely out. Was the trip ok?"

"How is Grid Ultra?" Clu doesn't bother with the story, but brings up his most nagging thought. The journey tale can be shared later.

Alan takes a deep breath. "Well…not good. It's still locked down tight. The demand in the ransom ware says we have three days to hand over plans for our digitization procedure before the drive is wiped. We believe the Encom system to be compromised so we're working away from the network at this lab, that we happen to fund. Flynn is meeting with top security and cryptographic experts as well as the CIA as we speak. It's the first time ever, people have been held hostage via a computer virus. We're trying to not let it leak to the press, so we can concentrate on the solution."

As he turns his head and bites his bottom lip, Kris gives his hand a gentle squeeze. Three User days…one hundred and fourty-four whole cycles that their home is in peril. If anyone is functioning under the encryption, they'll think they've been abandoned.

"Any ideas on who may have done this?" Kris asks.

"The lockdown sent out a ping and for a short time an obscure IP sent in the encryption keys, then traffic stopped. The CIA, with Lora's help, traced it to an address in Moscow. They suspect the mafia. The ransom says to put the files onto a filesharing service based in Bejing."

Clu's fists clench and unclench as he absorbs the information, "Get us a connection to Flynn."

…

"Getting here, we were pursued and attacked by a program that knew about us. We stopped at Google Japan, and they directed us to help. We believe at least one of the attackers hit Google there. Can we get in touch with them? Have them check Yamada-san's logs," Kris explains to Flynn and the security experts while Clu paces.

A dark haired gentleman in a smart navy suit and yellow tie by the name of Hanson from the CIA replies, "Will do. Thank you for the information Miss Talegaard. We're working on extraction for the DNA signatures, I just hope we can get those people out of there."

His comment gets Clu's attention, "What of the programs on the grid?"

"Mr. Clu is it? My you look like Flynn here. Anyway, our priority is human life, not information. I assume your company has backups. Anyone responsible would," Hanson leans into the camera to try to assert authority.

With fingers splayed on the desk and filling the camera with his face, Clu growls at Hanson, "This is how you would treat sentient programs who work faithfully and tirelessly for you?"

"Clu, let me handle this," Flynn quickly tries to help diffuse the situation.

"Programs aren't sentient," Hanson huffs quickly to get his point in.

Clu's temple twitches, but he lets Flynn have his say, "Hanson, you're wrong there. Clu is a program. He's fully sentient and acts on my behalf on the grid. The residents there are his priority. And he will do anything with in his power to protect them. I know. I created him, because I can't always be there. I had him pulled from the system during the attack to help us."

"Poppycock! You're telling me he's a hologram from that system of yours?" Hanson challenges.

Kris intercedes, "No, he's as real and alive as you and me. And the most powerful program on the planet. I've spent the last seventy or so cycles, their days, there on the grid. He and I work side by side, I've seen what he's capable of."

"All I have is a monitor view of your preposterous claims…" Hanson retorts, but is cut short by Clu.

"While you were wasting precious time with your pathetic posturing, I developed a plan to rescue ALL life on the grid. Even the User that brought in the virus," Clu's gives an unsettling grin to Hanson. Now that he's determined the man is of no use, he directs his attention elsewhere. "Flynn and Lora, I'll need the IP address that accessed the grid during the lockdown."

"Got it," Lora flashes her laptop screen to them.

"We haven't authorized you to act!" Hanson protests.

"Flynn have you authorized him to lead anything?" Clu asks.

"Nope, just asked for information," Flynn responds.

"This is my home, my domain we're dealing with. You're dismissed," Clu waves his hand in a shooing motion in Hanson's direction. Hanson sputters about not hearing from him for the last time and international incidents as he's led out of the room.

Flynn says to Hanson with the same smile Clu gave, "Get a warrant."

"Do the rest of you feel the same way as Hanson? If so, leave now," Clu crosses his arms and waits.

One expert, a very professional black gentleman that looks like he stepped right out of the military speaks up and looks at the rest of his companions, "Sir, Hanson is a prick. If I may speak for the rest of us, we'd like to help you hunt down these Bratva bastards." Everyone in the room nods.

With the weight of prejudice lifted from Clu's shoulders, he lets out the breath he didn't know he was holding. "Thank you. What is your name and function?"

"Collins, Sir. Jerome Collins of Black Hawk Computer Security. Started my own company out of the military, Sir."

"Excellent. Collins, would you like to see things from the inside of a computer?"

Collins gives an enthusiastic, "In a heartbeat, Sir."

"Meet me here at the Standford lab, ASAP."

"Be there within 20." Collins packs is computer and notes.

Lora pipes in, "I'll be on Hanson, he might hit the media along with getting that warrant."

"Good. We'll be going for the encryption keys. Be ready for our return," Clu shares his objective.

…

Author's note: Poor Clu - he never really gets to enjoy normality for long or get a proper vacation. Always something happening for those in charge. But you know he can't let anyone else handle this!

Reviews are appreciated!

Chapter End of Line


	8. 8 - No Capes

Three minutes early, Collins arrives armed with computers and all manner of weapons. Kris isn't sure all of them are legal, but she is not asking.

Collins adds, "I'm a crypto and security specialist, and speak Russian. I served in Iraq, and am not allowed to confirm if I was involved in Stuxnet.* I'm at your disposal, Sir."

"Wow, that makes me feel rather inadequate," Kris fidgets.

"Same here," Alan sounds rather sheepish.

"Seriously? Mr. Bradley - Tron's creator and perfector of the laser transform algorithm. And Miss Talegaard - the one that showed up Flynn and became his most talked about prodigy?" Collins can't mask his surprise.

"User, the clock is ticking." He turns to Alan, "Give the thumbs up when you're ready."

"Heading back, and we've only been here on this side of it all for what less than an hour?" Kris rolls her eyes at the irony. "I'd hoped to give you a tour."

"Not in the cards, Hon. When this is over, I'll insist we get what you here call a vacation. I never had one per say and I've been on the grid over ten of your years now," he steps to the transfer area with her and kisses her fiercely. "Besides, I need time alone with you."

Collins blurts as he picks up his jaw, "Programs and humans can interact that way?"

"We ARE programmed in our creator's image…" Clu waggles his eyebrows conspiratorially, bringing a ferocious blush from Kris and a snort from Collins.

…

Now filled with a backup copy of the main rooms of HQ, the former safe house blank space feels strange and out of place to Kris. She puts her hand on a wall to help her reconcile the incredible homesickness this one building brings. Her friends are supposed to be here with Tron City right outside. The hollowness of this office is downright painful.

"Difficult for you, too?" Clu checks with her before Collins arrives. The confirmation nod and lost look from her creates a lump in his throat and he scoops her up holding her head to his shoulder. Her fingers clench his uniform tightly as she tries to hold back a sob. Kissing the top of her head he vows, "We'll get our home back, I promise."

…

Over the course of the next cycle, Kris trains Collins in User abilities and provides him armor and weapons that function on the grid. Test shots with User world pistols were a dismal failure. Then Kris works on a small project of her own and Clu fills him in on the mission and drills them in the simulator on how to use their disks, other weapons, and batons for the major vehicles and tanks. During a short break, Collins designs an energy assault rifle and a drone bit.

Taking Clu aside into his favorite conference room while Collins tweaks the new rifle, Kris holds his hands in hers. "I cleared this with Flynn, but would have done it anyway. I want you to have all the advantages possible. Dealing with the Russian underground terrifies me. And telling Alan to pull me from the system when you leave, that wasn't nice. I'm not sure how long it will take to forgive you for it. But it tells me that you know how dangerous this mission is."

"I can't take the chance of losing you, Kris," he puts his forehead to hers and kisses her nose.

"You know I feel the same way," her voice is tight with the emotion.

"But I can be pulled from backup," he reasons.

"It wouldn't be the you that I have the memories of," she laments.

"I've made allowances for that," he strokes her cheek, but she turns from his gaze.

"Anyway, about my purpose here…give me your disk," she still struggles with the words. He hands it over, but there's a tad bit of wariness in his eyes from the direction of the conversation that preceded the request. "Don't look at me like that," she snaps as she adds new functionality to his disk. Sighing in frustration, this is not how she wants this to go. She softens as she puts it back on his back not even giving him time to review it, "This is my absolute trust in you."

His head cocks to the side a little as he processes the changes and the flash in his eyes signals the upgrade is complete.

"You…you gave me full User privileges?" he takes a stumbling step back then just stands there a little stupefied looking at his hands then at her and back again, "You really did, didn't you?"

"Yep. You now have joined the ranks of those who hold the ridiculous monicker, Super User. You just need a bright colored cape flapping behind you as you walk. You already run around in a skin tight suit, and you do make it look fabulous by the way…" she teases and pats his back side.

"What cape? What are you talking about?" he tries to make sense of her User world joke.

Shaking her head she tries to gain her composure to explain, "Comic books super heroes often wear capes and skin tight costumes. It's a joke my colleagues and I shared when we had to log in as root. Super User sounds like such a bad comic hero name. Someone even brought in bright red capes one day for us with our initials on them. We all wore them as a joke one day until the boss walked in and teased us. But I still have mine at home. It was better than reading Dilbert comics."

Clearing his throat to stop her revelry before she actually can carry through with her threat, "I'm not wearing a cape…" he narrows his eyes to say he's totally serious.

"I'll need something to do while I wait. I'll have a glorious one designed for you for when you get back…" she shows more teeth than a Cheshire cat.

"Kris…" he hisses.

"You're not appreciative?" she lays the trap.

"About everything, except capes," he evades and dips her into a kiss. "Thank you."

…

Author's note:

*I realize a real life soldier likely wouldn't say this. But it's a story - please humor me.

**I always have the giggles when as a programmer I had to talk about Super User, so I have to ask your forgiveness here. This joke finally made it into written form for me. Probably been done by others, but hopefully not quite like this.

Reviews are appreciated!

Chapter End of Line


	9. 9 - Operation Lock and Key

"As I see it, the Bratva wants a method to transport people and black market goods without dealing with border patrols. If they get it first, they can also corner a market for the services," Collins shares with Clu as they gear up.

"It opens up huge possibilities, for good and bad. We've been very selective about who we let know about the grid," Clu slaps a couple of batons on his leg.

"The missus wasn't happy with you," Collins interjects.

Clu doesn't meet his gaze. "Can't be avoided. Let's move," he urges as they enter the data stream and rez their light jets.

They encounter light resistance just outside the Stanford net. But the team dispatches them efficiently, so no stragglers are left to get message to their Users.

Nearing the ISP for the first possible target, they douse their circuits, put helmets up so they only have mic coms.

Collins scans the security system with the drone and his handheld vid win shows the latest security program with current updates, but allowing several nonstandard, wide open actively streaming ports. "Swiss cheese," Collins remarks and makes a tsk tsk sound as he and Clu hide behind large video streams to get close to the program. He adds, "Well, we know one of their weaknesses is likely porn."

"We'll have to disable him quickly and modify his programming so he doesn't sound the alarm," Clu mentions.

Collins takes aim, "This is so different from doing the same stuff from the other side of the screen. Unsettling how it's like my time overseas." The program drops as the shot is heard.

"Cover me," Clu draws his disk. Walking up to the program, he hears a moan. The shot wasn't enough to fully incapacitate the security program, and Clu ends the program in one ruthless stroke and takes the disk. "We may not have long."

Collins looks back once at the pile of cubes that once was the security program, then follows Clu in a crouch into the enemy system. Upon entering, he gives a low whistle at the war torn state of the area. Clu grimaces at the buildings turned to rubble, impact craters, and eyes peering suspiciously from behind the sides of broken out windows.

"This isn't the system…" Clu trails off and turns to go.

"Can't we do anything for them?" Collins asks.

"Not a priority," Clu brushes it aside.

"For being all mushy with Kris before we left, you sure are cold now."

"I didn't want her here. No room for quarter or error. I have to return to the callus monster I was becoming before I met her. Programs are generally loyal to their users. When the user is the enemy, there's collateral," Clu confesses with out emotion. A smidge of empathy enters his eyes as he sees Collins' expression and concedes, "Note the IP, you may be able to come back later. But really, wiping it would be a favor."

The next system they enter isn't any better, it was also ravaged by the fight against malware and viruses. Collins notes that IP too.

System number three though, the security is very difficult. Clu ends the program despite a plea for mercy. They end up setting off alarms and have to quickly recode the security program's disk in order to allow them to act as the program. They take down the alerts and post a message that the threat has been dealt with.

Entering the pristine, white, palatial system is a shock in comparison to the last two systems. They are greeted by a snobbish female accounting program, dressed in a perfectly tailored suit with red circuit trim, that makes Collins think of the movie 'The Devil Wears Prada'. In Russian she asserts, "Financial couriers were not requested. Present your access code." She taps her clipboard with her light pen, irritated that she has to take time out for them.

"Distract her," Clu tells Collins via helmet mic.

Collins lets down his helmet and steps up to her and addresses her in her native tongue, "Actually Miss…"

"Ivanovna."

Collins puts on his stout, in charge face, "Miss Ivanovna. I don't want to take up your time. But there was a security breach and we were instructed to take the package to a secure location. Is it ready? We'll need you to sign for it."

In Collins' helmet he hears Clu say, "Just about got it…"

"We are aware of the security breach, and it has been handled. Data does not need to be transfered. Present your security code or…" she's cut off in mid sentence and seems to be frozen.

"What did you do to her?" Collins asks a little incredulously.

"Grab her disk. She's momentarily paused. Won't put up a fight," Clu insists as he works on a small vid screen. "She's not alone here..."

Collins executes a zip command that captures, encrypts and compresses her, then tucks the zip file under his glove. Hearing the whine of cycles, Collins readies his weapon. "We could have just taken her disk. Now you have a hostage," Clu grumbles.

Shrugging, Collins comments, "She'll be more useful to us alive. Maybe she'd accept a different user?"

Clu shakes his head and the cycles enter visual range. Seeing that the advancing programs are hostile as they pull their disks, Clu's hands fly around each other to spin the code for a popup light wall directly in front of them, so there's no time to stop and the result is a mess of voxels.

Pulling up a vid win, Collins works on finding the location of the program that likely has the private decryption key. He runs though the list of most commonly used passwords in Russian and gains access to the user Pakhan (Godfather). "Why, oh why do people use such easy passwords? Stupid."

"Nah, just lazy," Clu adds.

"Looking through the processes now, anything here look likely to you?" Collins asks and Clu peeks over his shoulder.

The list of currently running programs is shorter than on many systems. But one, accessing multiple domains from a list of ones created today, seems to be suspect - 'pushdo'.

"I want our entry to be a surprise, so we'll go unlisted and invisible. How's your armor holding up? This program will be a sneaky bastard," Clu says as Collins finds the sector with the pushdo executable.

"Found him." Collins does a diagnostic. "Making repairs now. We'll have to beat him at his own game, you know."

…

Surveying the indicated sector, they find it is occupied by a vast onyx pyramid type structure. Looking at the schematics, only one way in or out of every level. Guards are stationed at each side of the door. Only those with teal circuits enter.

Our infiltration team quickly changes their circuit color, hides their weapons, and heads to the door.

Getting past the first door is no problem. The guards are quietly taken out and disposed of. Inside the complex, Clu realizes that the walls are like a two way mirror. You can't see in, but you can see out. They'll have to assume from here on out, that they are being watched. Making their way to the door to the next level isn't hard, but it's on the opposite corner. There is no direct route in this place.

For the second level a badge is required and they derezz a few more programs to snatch the entry requirement. Collins finds it disturbing how little attention is paid to surroundings by the other programs. It's almost as if they don't dare, or out of fright they choose to pretend to not notice anything. When they engaged the two programs to get badges, everyone else disappeared on the level. Does stuff like this happen all the time or are they trained?

Inside the level, they see programs going in an erratic pattern. Watching for a few milicycles, they see one trip and it sets off a laser trap. A hole is burned right through the unfortunate program, and then the voxels fall in a heap and the tiles on the floor flip to make it all tidy again. "Crap," Collins gripes as his stomach turns from the efficient brutality. They follow close behind the next program and mimic it's movements. The footing is uneven here and it's tricky going. Collins almost loses his balance at one point, but Clu grabs his arm to steady him.

At the level three door, they find a programetric scan is required. They see only a few programs entering. It seems to be the same ones over and over. But they notice a small pause after the scan that they might be able to utilize. Clu rushes through the door in that pause and threateningly urges the program to go back out the door. Collins then follows the program in to level 3, and Clu dispatches the program. When he feels Collins staring at him, he icily answers - "No quarter, no errors. Remember?"

Outside the final door, the two steel themselves. Pushdo should be on the other side. From here on out, it will likely be rough. Seeing the line of programs carrying boxes, they get in queue. Each frightened program disintegrates in the forcefield of the door as they try to push supplies and energy through. There's no trick for getting past easily this time. Clu's teeth clench as he sees the sick system over and over. Collins puts up a forcefield to stop the slaughter, but the programs take out their disks and start hacking through the energy wall that protects them. Clu explains, "They're compelled by their command."

"Real faith in their User?" Collins can't believe this.

"Not religion. These are minimal code bots - lacking in the logic circuit department," Clu clarifies as he and Collins each place a charge on the side of the door and step behind a temporary double wall energy shield. The blast knocks out the first wall of the shield, and damages the other badly.

"Floor's crumbling!" Clu shouts as he grabs Collins's arm and they book it. Collins slaps a code patch on his leg mid stride and it gives them just enough boost to clear the newly formed crater. Upon landing there's a twist in Collin's ankle, but he shakes it of swearing and has only a minor limp. He can still run on if if he has to.

Now that they're in, they see a hideous female form, pieced together from all kinds of programs with way too many arms and legs and covered only in rags. It reminds Collins of the flood beings in the Halo stories, as his stomach twists in revulsion. She's wet wired to her throne and unable to move from it.

A throaty distorted chuckle echoes in the room and it sends a shiver down Collins's spine. "Welcome to my inner sanctum. Do not be fooled by my tether. I move everything around me with a mere thought," she hisses. A minute twitch of her index finger causes Clu to be flipped upside down and moved right in front of her. He doesn't flinch. "You, pompous bastard mix of a User and program. You really thought you could save your system by attacking me, instead of giving us the ransom." She drags her fingertips from his chin over his chest toward his stomach in a fashion that would be seductive, from any other program. His disk flashes in front of him stopping her touch from going any further, and she tsks as if dealing with a naughty child. "Your unnatural power will be a useful addition to my collection." She gestures to the mishmash of parts that form her.

As she toys with his partner, Collins reflexively takes aim with his trusty rifle. Hearing the shot, she raises her other hand to stop the energy shot. "Do not think I am incapable of multitasking," she fixes her glare on him now.

Clu takes advantage of her apparent distraction by coding an erase command for this sector and thrusts his disk into the nearest flesh. But finds he can't pull his disk from the arm it sank into, as it sloughs off and he is being drawn toward the open wound. Her other hands grabbing greedily at him, pulling him in and trying to rip him into pieces. All he can do is keep slashing to stay alive.

Collins focuses on her as she screams in a disturbing mix of pain and delight. If he can't attack her, what can he do? She's powerful, but what makes her so? Taking an educated guess, he pulls his disk and throws wildly it at her then aims his rifle at the cables and empties the clip. It appears to loosen her hold on Clu, so he tosses a grenade and slams another clip into his rifle.

The explosion destroys her connections to the throne and she thrashes widly, still trying to take Clu apart. Collins can see Clu is weakening. Is she sapping his energy with each attack? She has his partner by the leg and he sees cracks start to form from the tension as she tries to pry him apart section by section.

Throwing up a barrier around himself then Clu, he charges the monstrosity in a selfless act and stuffs a grenade directly into the mass of writhing hands. He tries to pull back before the blast, but is unable to do so. He codes a second more powerful shield, hoping to save his hand. She starts to absorb the shield as the blast tears her apart and Collins and Clu are thrown into the wall opposite her throne.

When he comes to, Collins feels a searing pain in his hand, where the forcefield protected the outer skin from scorching, but flexed in on impact and crushed several bones. Next he notices the pain in his side and that nagging ankle. But he scans the area, and sees a pool of voxels with a disk at the center, and Clu unmoving near the wall - covered in open wounds. Forcing himself to move, the limps through the sickening jello like pile to retrieve the disk as the levels below them start to disintegrate. As fast as he can, he grabs Clu tosses a grenade at the roof and rezzes a lightjet to get them the heck out of here.

…

Author's note: Reviews are appreciated!

Songs: Archers - Wovenwar, What I've Done - Linkin Park, Battle Cry - Imagine Dragons, Dunecraft - Nick Phoenix

Chapter End of Line


	10. 10 - Casualties

**Timestamp: Post Operation Lock and Key**

**Location: Japanese Consulate Server**

Staggering under the weight of an unconscious Clu and his own injuries, Collins collapses at the door of the Consulate, after dragging him out of the lightjet. He's vaguely aware of programs picking him up and hauling both Clu and him inside.

Upon waking, Collins checks on Clu and asks to send an encrypted message to Kris and Alan. "Mission accomplished. Decrypt key on disk. Both of us wounded. Clu needs more medical attention than they have here. I'm doing what I can, but could use help. It's touch and go right now. Physical and psychological effects. Come ASAP. -Collins" While he waits, he offers to install an English language pack for each of those who will be helping him.

When Kris arrives, Collins tries to prepare Kris for what she's about to encounter. As she puts her arm in his, his free uninjured hand engulfs hers to steady her. Collins has a nasty limp and several bandaged wounds, but he seems to be ignoring them as best he can. Clu is priority, since he's in much worse shape.

Kris has to lean on Collins, from the shock of seeing Clu so torn up, in a life support field, with his circuits so dim and hooked up to an energy drip. He's in a forced stasis to keep him from degrading further. Feeling like the floor fell out from under her, her voice only comes as a croak, "Hang in there, Love. I'm here. I need you more than ever."

The head medical program hands Clu's disk to Kris. Collins pulls up a couple of chairs and they go to work facing each other with the disk resting on their knees.

Working well into the next shift, they are both exhausted from the strain. Every wound seems connected to one of his systems, every single system. Collins insists they take a break, so they don't make mistakes in the code. Feeling woozy, she realizes how often she'd held her breath. She won't leave his side though. Instead she crawls onto the hospital bed beside him in the healing field, while Collins steps out for a little bit to rest. Fewer than half of the largest wounds have been healed so far, and Kris is emotionally spent. She just clings to his broken body, as he breathes raggedly, and she lets the tears flow. Trying otherwise would be futile, they'd come anyway.

…

In another room, the medical programs ask Collins about his and Kris's attention to Clu. Questions like:

- "Why would a User seem to care so much about a program, when meeting Users hasn't happened before? You can't know us, can you?"

- "She called him 'Love'. Is it even possible for a romance between a User and program?"

- "Why is it taking so long to heal him? Aren't Users capable of miracles?"

- "His code is different from most programs. Is it just that he is special?"

Collins puts his hands up, to stop the barrage. He doesn't even have answers for most of the queries. He's been on this side of the screen for less than a User day. How can he even try to speak to these issues? Retreating to an empty room, he requests to be left alone for a while.

He pulls out the zip file of Miss Ivanovna. Scanning through her code in the file, he looks for where she could be modified to accept a new User. When it occurs to him that it would be taking away her choice, the file drops from his hands.

Was Clu really right that she can't be saved? Not even one survivor of Operation Lock and Key? The memories of the brutality start to replay in his head. Programs may not bleed, but they are so damned human.

He leans back in his chair and runs his hands over his face as if to wash away the insanity of the situation. No wonder Clu didn't want Kris to be there. Looking back down at the floor with the zip file, he wonders if there is anything that can be done to save Miss Ivanova. Gingerly, he picks it up, puts it back in his pocket and goes to stare out the window for a while.

…

Later, back in Clu's room, Kris and Collins are back at work. They've started learning to be a team, anticipating each other's work and providing the compliment of support and system encapsulation. Work is finally proceeding faster.

Near the end of the 3rd shift, they're able to reboot Clu. Kris sits beside his bed. Collins rests in a chair across the room. Quite a crowd has gathered. The momentary flicker of his faint circuits causes Kris a moment of panic. But when his wounds start sealing up, she lays her head on his chest to listen for his heart beat.*

Waking up, Clu is extremely disoriented. He thrashes about and unwittingly knocks Kris across the room with a User command. Onlookers nearby, help her to her feet and try to usher her our of the room. Collins bolts from his chair, glad he wasn't farther away.

"Clu! It's me Collins. You're safe now!" he grunts as he struggles in a futile attempt to restrain Clu. The thrashing finally stops, but Clu is still panting.

"Wh…Where am I? Where's Kris?"

"We're in the medical facilities at the Japanese Consulate. Kris is right over there." He points to a group at Clu's right, fussing over her as Clu sits up.

"Oh, damn... It was you right here, wasn't it?" He pleads for her forgiveness as he walks toward her, "Kris, I'm so sorry. So, so, so sorry! Please…"

One of the medics steps in front of her to protect her, "You used a command on her, that you shouldn't have been able to execute! Step away from her!" The others circle protectively.

Clu drops to his knees in shock. This is going south so quickly. His processors race. How can he stop it and make things with Kris the way they used to be?

"He needs me! Let me out! Now!" Kris pushes her way out of the group and kneels in front of Clu, throwing her arms around him. "I'm here, Sunshine. I'm here." He's shaking as he returns the embrace desperately.

Turning back toward the confused medics, Kris answers the charge, "*I* gave him the User privileges. I know what he's capable of. I also know what he and Collins were up against, and what the stakes are. We have a whole system of programs and people trapped inside."

Himawari, the medic that was trying to stand up for her has a particularly perplexed look on his face. "But…but Users and programs constantly on the same system?"

"People on the system working side by side with programs, yes. It's the first system of it's kind. We hope to help come up with the standard for such interactions," Kris explains as she helps Clu to the bed and sits beside him.

"But…what about belief in the Users? This sounds so impossible!" Himawari holds his hands out in a gesture of disbelief.

"What have you seen that's impossible?" Collins steps in. "How are we so different from you?"

"You're a creator! That's how!" another program named Matsumoto pipes in with her surprisingly strong voice.

"So? You could too. A little knowledge is all that stands in the way there," Collins shrugs his shoulders.

The whole of the medic group is feeling mighty uncomfortable right now - shifting their weight, worried looks and crossed arms. Hierarchy is deeply ingrained in them. A challenge to it, unheard of.

Seeing the tension, Collins goes into peace keeper mode, "Listen, we're not trying to mess with you all. We're just used to continual change. This particular kind of change, will be slow to progress, especially after the incident on their server. So breathe easy. And I think it may be time for us to go. Our friend is back to his senses and he needs to see his system restored."

Kris squeezes Clu's hand and gets up to thank the medical team for all their help. Then Collins and Kris lead Clu out to the transport stream.

…

Author's Notes:

*Clu may not have a heart, technically. But the electricity flow would have a pulse-like beat. (AC current coming from the wall plug has a frequency of 60 Hz. Slow in grid time - but still a beat.) I think this would transfer to the programs.

Songs:

Drop Your Guard - Jasmine Thompson

Halo - Starset

What If I Was Nothing - All That Remains

Archers - Wovenwar

Place to Hide - O.A.R.

Reviews are appreciated!

Chapter End of Line


	11. 11 - the Wait

**Timestamp: 1 day left in the ransom demand**

**Location: Encom's basement lab with the Grid Ultra servers**

The tension is palpable as Clu snaps a thumb drive into a usb port. The group can't see the ransom ware virus from this side the screen, but they know many lives hang the balance.

"It's disconcerting how impersonal everything is from this side the screen, isn't it?" Kris remarks. Everyone here has been on the other side - Flynn, Alan, Lora, and Collins. Nods and quiet um-hmms are given. Clu is the only one with a definitive answer, "Extremely."

Everyone's eyes are glued to the overhead screen as Clu types in the location of the decryption key to the ransom ware. His fingers angrily pound the keys. Kris puts her hand on his shoulder and gives a squeeze, to remind him that everyone here feels the same way. A broken keyboard at this point will do Grid Ultra no good.

A new gaudy hued window pops up on the screen with the message 'Decrypting… 1% complete'. The whole room holds their breaths as the numbers ever so slowly creep upward. Ten minutes into the process it's only 4 % done.

"Why is it slower at decrypting than at encrypting?" Clu asks to the room at large, and receives no answer. Knowing that seconds here on this side of the screen mean the equivalent of hours there, he clenches his fists. How many programs are waiting torturous amounts of time for those they know to be decrypted? And the avalanche of questions starts in his head. What will the lasting effects be? How hard will it be to erase all traces of this virus? Is it truly decrypting the drive or doing more damage? Will the programs on Grid Ultra ever feel safe again? Will the humans survive this process?

He shakes his head to stop the plague of unknowns. For the first time, his doubt really starts to get to him. With his mouth in a taught line, he turns to look uncertainly at Kris behind him. She gives him a little smile of assurance and steps up to wrap her hand around his. As the percentage ticks to 50%, only the two of them remain standing by the monitor - waiting for their home to be returned to some semblance of normal. Kris drops his hand and bends over and bends her knees, "Argh…Dizzy. I locked my knees at some point."

"Are you ok?" he squats down to meet her gaze, confusion and concern on his face.

"Yeah. I just didn't want to pass out. Have to let the blood flow again. How about we sit like the rest of the folks? And I'll get us something to snack on while we wait. Looks like we've got about 2 hours left," she offers.

Reluctantly he sits, and the stress and tension go down a bit. He tries to refuse the sandwich and Coke. But Kris insists, citing that he'll need his energy once they hit the grid again. Watching her as she opens the can and munches on the sandwich, he follows suit. She rests her head on his shoulder and he puts his arm around her, as they eat.

"I know it's not gourmet food or anything. But what do you think of it? It's your first food from our world," she asks trying to help pass the time. A shrug is all the answer she gets.

Absently, she plays with his hair, not caring who's watching. She continues, "Someday I want to take you to have Chicago style pizza, and grill a steak for you, and go on a date to have ice cream together. And I want you to see the beach, and forest covered mountains, to stand barefoot in the grass with you, and to go to Hawaii with you so we can swim with the turtles and seals."

"After Grid Ultra is functional," his quiet monotone response catches her off guard.

Her eyebrow shoots up, "Yeah. I desperately want to go home, too. The look on your face is scaring me. I know you're processing things you shouldn't be right now. So, I want you to have something to distract your mind for a little bit right now. When we can come back here, what do you want to do?"

How does she know him so well? He leans back in the chair and closes his eyes and steeples his hands in thought, running though what he knows of this world. Hiking? Oceans? Traveling? What does this world have that his doesn't? Then it dawns on him. "To meet Sam."

"That can be arranged," Flynn interjects. "He asks about you and the grid all the time, man. It's odd for a teen to do that. You two are technically related. Though, I'm not sure if it's as brothers or as uncle and nephew or both."

Clu gives a decisive, "Uncle."

The last half an hour is the most torturous. Every ounce of small talk is exhausted. All that remains is sitting in silence waiting for the counter to tick up to the next percentage, over and over.

At ninety-seven percent, Kris can't take it anymore. Like a toddler, she throws a little fit - stomping her feet and screaming for a second. Her cheeks flush pink and Alan tries to stifle a snigger at her outburst. She opts to get up to pace for a bit.

Ninety-nine percent. Four more minutes. Clu's knuckles are white as they grip the arms on the chair. He can feel Kris start to knead his shoulders and his neck, as she tries to help him calm down. Then she kisses the top of his head and wraps her arms around him.

Click.

The screen reads - 'Completed' and then disappears, only to be followed by a new popup window. Clu bolts out of this seat. The whole group seems to have a sharp intake of breath, dreading what it might say. Flynn reads it out loud, "To all on the other side: HQ is recovered and all accounted for here. Tron and Yori have isolated the source and are going to ensure it's wiped out. - Shaddox."

Cheers erupt and Kris is bouncing as she hugs the still rigid Clu. Slowly he yields, tightly returning the embrace and burying his head in her shoulder. To help hide his vulnerable side and shroud his face from the others, her arms enfold his head and her fingers intertwine in his hair. Talking amongst themselves, the others file out - to offer a little privacy.

Barely audible she murmurs in his ear, "It's over. Our home is safe…", then kisses his cheek.

…

Author's note: Reviews are appreciated!

Chapter End of Line


	12. 12 - Down Time

**Timestamp: Decryption of Grid Ultra plus one User day (August 2nd)**

**Location: Encom Basement Lab**

Hanson, the CIA officer, swarms in with his warrant. Only to find that the room is empty. Not a trace that anything had ever been in here. Storming out in a huff, he slaps his clipboard on the guard's chest and demands to know where the equipment and people who were trapped inside went and where Flynn is.

The hapless security guard that led him here, just shrugs and looks at him like he's losing it at the mention of the people being trapped in a computer. How should he know? He's just a guard, no one tells him anything.

A text message from a spoofed number pops up on Hanson's phone. "Everyone is safe now. People who were trapped, have returned home."

…

**Location: Zurich, Switzerland**

Flynn brought Sam along on the trip, with the promise that Sam would finally get to see the grid.

On the way to lunch, Sam is rather sullen and withdrawn. But during conversations about the grid, he perks up. He wants to know everything about it. He keeps up with the technical jargon, even though he's not out of high school yet. Clu can't help but admire his curiosity and intelligence of this young beta. The strongest commonality they have is a love of motorcycles/light cycles. So, Clu promises him a light cycle of his own on the grid.

While he doesn't fully understand Flynn's commitment to Sam, he's at least met and learned to like the one that he used to be so intensely jealous and ignorant of. And he's made it to the User world - hanging out with Flynn, and Kris is by his side.

…

Kris drags Clu out to sight see with her. She's never been here and wants to make the most of it. For him, it's more fun to watch her as she excitedly scurries from spot to spot. She doesn't purchase anything but a nice camera, to take pictures of the two of them together. He gets tired of smiling for the images, but he knows he'll be glad he did later.

At first, he's not impressed on the tour up to a small village. The train is not what he envisioned User travel to be, and it's utterly inefficient compared to the grid. But when they disembark, and he sets foot out in the fresh air, next to the little mountain stream, that's when it clicks for him. The grid has the barren outlands and mountains. But nothing like this. The rugged snow caps of the mountains, the green plants all around, birds flying and singing overhead. Life surrounds him. Everywhere there's something to see and it's rather disorienting.

He grabs Kris's hand to steady himself as his eyes dart from thing to thing. She quietly mentions, "In some ways the grid seems an incomplete version of here, in others it's much improved." He nods, not trusting himself to speak until he's had more time to process it all.

When they arrive back in Zurich, he's quite dizzy. He thinks it might just be too much visual input. Kris helps him back to the lab. She and Flynn look him over, but they can't tell much from a cursory inspection. He just looks peaked. Kris asks, "Is the laser setup yet?"

"It's hooked up to a secure setup for testing," Flynn assures her.

On the test grid, Kris pours over Clu's code very carefully while he rests. She doesn't have his backup available to compare to. But looking at his disk, she sees several statements that are incomplete. She fixes them as she comes across them. But, how can that be? Flynn had made a copy of himself, with no mods. Clu is very careful to always check whatever mods are added to himself. Where did this come from?

Why isn't this happening to her? The motion sickness mod seemed to be wearing off at the end of the trip. What a minute...she checks the mod and it has incomplete statements too. "Oh my…" she mumbles to herself.

He rolls over to watch her as she works, "What?"

"Well, I think the little vacation we planned, is going to have to change," she brings his disk with a sad little expression.

"As soon as my code is fixed, we can go back," he soothes.

"It's not that simple, Sunshine. I found quite a few incomplete statements. Then I looked at my motion sickness mod. Same thing. Your code was decaying. So, evidently - being off the grid isn't good for programs." She cups his face in her hands, "I'm sorry. Let's get you rebooted so you feel better."

Finishing off the code fixes and lessening the trauma of the memories of his last mission to help his PTSD just takes a few milicycles. She sits down on the couch and attaches his disk. He lays back so his head rests in her lap, and his eyes close and circuits dim for a microcycle. She sends a quick message of explanation to Flynn and finger combs Clu's hair, while she waits for the process to finish. She hates how long this takes. You'd think a single program would restart quickly. But his code is so complicated it takes him quite a while to be functional again. Flynn messages back for them to stay put.

Zoning out, his voice snaps her back to reality. "You can to that as long as you'd like…"

Evidently she played with his hair the whole time, it makes her giggle to think it's so instinctual for her. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Much." Clu checks the system clock. "3.1 User days left until the restart of Grid Ultra. We've got some serious time on our hands. A nice long va-ca-tion."

"I can't do the math as fast as you can, how many cycles is that?" Kris asks, as she programs a couple of chairs for them to at least have a place to sit.

"One hundred fifty-five," he puts his finger to his lip in wily contemplation.

"And it's just you and me…" she finishes his thought. "Well, I'd tucked away a little file I was working on for when we got back to the grid. Might be a good time to share it." She pulls it out of her pocket and places it on the floor. When it finishes rezzing, he sees the scene she created.

The central point is a veil canopied four poster bed on a carpet of knee high wildflowers. A bubbling brook beside it shows the reflection of the moon and stars above. Floating in the current is a tethered bucket of ice with a bottle of champaign and a pair of glasses. In the slight breeze, fireflies wink on and off.

"I want to add a bit more to it later. But what do you think so far?" she pulls him along into the setting.

Dipping down to touch the iridescent petals of the flowers he picks one, "Paradise…" As he tucks the blossom behind her ear he inquires, "Where is this in the User world?"

"This is just a fantasy I want to share with you."

She entwines her fingers at the back of his neck and he falls sideways onto the bed. It drags her down to crash on top of him causing them both a fit of laughter. She straddles his hips, kissing and caressing each line of his circuits as she derezzes that section of his armor and he does the same for her. Finally free of anything between them, her smooth skin on his bare circuitry causes sparks in the darkness.

Their first time is feverish and desperate, since their privacy had been interrupted so many times before. After that they learn to slow down and just drink each other in. Each cycle they wake in each other's arms and have no where else to go.

…

Author's note: Reviews are appreciated!

Chapter End of Line


	13. 13 - Decisions

**Timestamp: A****ugust 5th******

**Location: a secure computer, with the only access being the User activated laser.**

Kneeling and gently setting the zip file, with the financial program he stole, on the ground, Collins mumbles a quick prayer and runs the unzip command.

As soon as she's rezzed, Ivanovna crouches instinctively and her hands curl like claws as she takes a swipe at the only one here. Collins dodges and grabs her wrist, then uses that hold to wrap his arms around her to hold her still and keep her from grabbing her disk. She gasps raggedly as she kicks, tries to bite and head butt him. Wisps of her blonde hair fall from their bun, and she loses a shoe in the process. "You scanned me for vulnerabilities, I won't let you forcibly change me!" she shrieks in Russian.

"Yes, and when I realized that would be forcing something on you, I couldn't do it," he shouts above her banshee wails. "It's just you and me here. Safest for you that way."

Twisting and thrashing she puts up an incredible fight and screams, "Let me go! Let me go home!" It's hard for him to hang on. Finally, he feels her weakening. He lets her wear herself out in the struggle. Speaking in her native tongue, as if to a child, "I won't hurt you. If I let you go, will you not attack me?"

Meekly she nods, and he starts to loosen his grip on her. They both bend over panting for several microcycles.

When he has his breath back, he tells her what happened after he took her captive, and that he'd hoped to save her. There were no other survivors. Not even her users. They were killed in a raid by a CIA swat team. He believes her capable of change, and that he can find a new home for her.

She just crumples to the ground at the news. "Why didn't you just derezz me too?"

He looks away for a moment before answering, "I've seen too much killing between Iraq and the mission on your system. I just couldn't kill you..."

"I hate you," she snarls as she looks up at him, still fight in her.

"I know... I'll find you a new system, where you don't have to see me ever again, and you can work with those who are worthy of being served. Unlike the last ones."

"You've ruined my life! No one will want a program that worked for the mafia!" she accuses.

He turns back to face her and gets down on her level. "No those who would use you and make you track things for evil purposes did. I'm offering another chance. What do you say?"

She doesn't answer him.

He retrieves her shoe, and slowly offers it to her - afraid she might start the whole fight all over again. But she simply takes the shoe and puts it on. He offers her a hand to get up, but she snubs him and gets up on her own power.

"So I am your prisoner here?" she accuses.

"No. I just needed a safe place to let you out." His head tilts as he looks a little wounded, but not surprised. "Would you like to sit?"

She looks around and crosses her arms as she frowns at the empty space.

Spinning a code sphere, he programs a comfy camp chair and offers it to her before creating one for himself too.

"You're a User, here in the data cloud. I thought that was only a fanciful myth, not a real possibility. So, that's how you trapped me." She pouts as she sits.

"If you need time to think. We've got plenty of that. Would you like me to leave you to yourself for a while, so you can sort this all out" he offers and gets up to leave - but where she's not sure.

"I've had nothing but solitude for too long. I was squashed into that zip file for so many cycles I lost count," she stretches automatically as she remembers feeling so trapped.

"I'm sorry about that." He means it.

Milicycles go by and she breaks the silence, "What are my options?"

"Well, I have a connection at Google, So Google Russia may be an option. Russia is a major player in the world again and advanced financial programs will be needed more and more - so maybe at the consulate or stock exchange. Flynn said he has contacts over there. I'll look into other options if you have ideas." He spreads his hands in an open peaceful gesture.

"How do you know I won't seek vengeance?" she queries.

"I don't." His point blank honesty catches her off guard.

"Where will you be?" she switches mental gears, half demanding.

"Does it matter?" he leans forward with hands folded in front of him.

"I'm not sure. But I'm curious to know if you'll go back to the User world," she admits.

"For a while. Then I'll be stationed on the grid, to help with security. I'm excited to see the grid."

"Users and programs interact more now?"

"This is a test. We're not sure everyone is ready for such change. Programs on the grid have more freedoms and choice, because we understand they are sentient. But it's still a work in progress. There's a lot of understanding needed by both sides."

Another long pause as she digests this tidbit. Fiddling with her sleeve to manage her anxiety, she speaks the thoughts on her mind. "I don't want to just mindlessly serve Users any more. I want to help programs gain autonomy."

"The grid is the only place I know of for that, right now. I don't have control over who enters. And I'll be there. Could you deal with that, if I can get permission?" he meets her gaze.

Hand to her mouth in concentration, she mulls it over. "Will the one that was with you in the attack on my system be there too?"

He nods.

"If you're interested in the grid, let me ask Kris to visit you. She can tell you about it and what happened to her system. She's a User, but she made the grid her home. She and Clu, the program that was with me, were the only ones to escape the infection."

She bites her bottom lip in contemplation.

"I'll make the call. It takes a while to get a response," he decides and pulls up a vid win to send the message.

Half a cycle later, Kris arrives. First thing, she pulls out a file and installs it. "Da. Korosheye. (Yes. Good.)," she states, obviously pleased with herself.

"Kris, you know how Clu feels about you modifying yourself," Collins chides in Russian.

"Yes, Daddy," she crinkles her nose in irritation, then focuses on the reason for her visit. "Miss Ivanovna, shall we chat?"

"Yes. You can call me Rapira," she invites.

The two of them walk off out of earshot. Collins sees Kris remove her disk and show Rapira her flight from the infected system and what the grid is like. They seem to talk for a long time. While he waits, he modifies his chair to recline and gets a little shut eye. Between the flight to Zurich and hurried system setup there, and this - he's exhausted.

A gentle pressure on his arm and his name, "Jerome. Hey wake up. Time to go." Kris's voice slowly registers and he tries to force his eyes open. "Dude, I know you're tired, but we have two more stops before you can crash long term. I'll help you up." Kris offers him her hand, and it's hard for her to help him up. "Geeze, you could at least help a little!"

Rapira comments, "He's low on energy. Needs some very soon. He hasn't had any the whole time we've been here."

"Seriously?" Kris looks dubious.

He nods and Kris shoves a vial in his direction. Shaking her head, "I keep forgetting what the learning curve was like for me when I first was online." Switching subjects she catches him up, "Rapira will be our first non-Encom program to be ported to the system. It took some convincing, but she's agreed to be zip filed for the port. While Clu and I were taking some down time on the other side of the screen, I noticed there started to be a bit of degradation of his code, and I'm not exactly sure why. I also noticed my motion sickness mod needed a patch then too. Rapira will be safest carried into Grid Ultra."

"Roger that. And she'll have a place on the grid? And will be protected from those who would think she had something to do with the attack?" Collins inquires.

"I chose to be a financial advisor in Argon City, until New Russia is completed. Kris will have Dyson assign a guard to me," Rapira answers for herself with a dignity he didn't even see on her old system.

"It's growing so fast there, she'll really make a difference," Kris adds.

Collins smiles in the relief that she'll be ok, and that he made the right choice. "Well then. I'm still dead tired. Let's get this over with."

...

**Timestamp: August 6th**

**Location: Zurich, Switzerland - Encom's newest lab**

Here in the User world for only the time is takes to start up the system, Clu kneels in front of the power switch for the server farm. Kris nods at him encouragingly. He extends his finger and depresses the switch, starting up hundreds of fans, drives , and lights. The air conditioning units kick in with an additional hum.

Kris sees a smile form on his face as he rises and caresses her face and says, "Let's go home."

Looking on Collins, Flynn, Alan and Lora step aside for them as they make their way to the laser transfer location. Clu gives a thumbs up, then takes Kris's face in his hands and kisses her deeply as the laser starts to transfer them. They'll enter the Grid again, inseparable.

Collins will follow them shortly. He's not seen the grid that he risked his life for. It's about time he does. He taps the zip file in his pocket, in the hope that it really will work out for Ivanovna.

…

Author's note: Reviews are appreciated!

Chapter End of Line


	14. 14 - Prologue

**Location: Grid Ultra**

**Timestamp: Several cycles after restart**

Collins had wanted to help the other ravaged systems from Operation Lock and Key. But the CIA had raided the place, analyzed what they could and wiped the systems for auction. So he settles into his security position in Tron City working with Tron and Yori. The Grid is like a digital paradise to him and adjusts quickly. Smoke, one of the sirens, notices him right away and helps him make new acquaintances.

Programs have a hard time trusting Rapira Ivanovna after finding out she came from the system that attacked Grid Ultra. Kris does her best to smooth things over. Dyson assigns himself as her security detail. The few programs that do see if they can trust her are rewarded with the best financial advice possible and they profit from it. So her business grows and she is able to fund a shelter for abused programs. As he gets to know her, Dyson finds out that her system looked great on one level, but it was pure hell to live there. He can't help but admire her spunk and determination to make a new place for herself and help empower others to do the same.

Users are now scanned before entering the system, just like programs. Kris truly hates this, but after what they went through - she doesn't complain.

Mental recovery from what he saw and did, is a slow process for Clu. Kris keeps working on subduing (not suppressing) the awful memories, and keeping him occupied with expanding the grid. She has to work with Collins some too. Both of them still wake from nightmares. But lessening the return of the memories is a big help for each of them.

World wide, a ban on new computer systems where humans can port to is enacted. There is too much potential for horrendous things to happen. Reality needs to stay stable and tangible. Together Clu and Kris shape the grid - the only system where humans and programs can interact.

Because of her unwavering dedication to him, and the fact that he can't think of living with out her - Clu asks Kris to be his permanent counterpart. The ceremony is a simple private affair and it takes place in front of Flynn's arcade where they first met, those many cycles ago. Thinking back to when she first came to the grid, she couldn't have ever imagined committing her life to a program. But now, she is his, and he is hers - forever.

…

Author's note: Reviews are appreciated! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this story!

Story End of Line


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